Miike Snow
iii
(Atlantic Recordings Corporation)
The trio’s third, full-length release is everything you’d expect from an album that was at least partially completed in an old Swedish castle; it features a healthy dose of homages to older musical influences, intricately polished melodies that are just downright majestic, and enough spookiness to raise a few neck hairs (and/or robot move dance-offs). For those less educated on the Miike Snow sound, lead singer Andrew Wyatt continues to deliver the supremely pure vocals that graced their first two records, as well as his solo collaborations with such heavy hitters as Mark Ronson, Flume, and A-Trak. The other two members of the group, Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg, are the masterminds of production. The duo formerly known as Bloodshy & Avant created jams for such bigwigs as Madonna, Britney Spears, Katy Perry… eh, you get the picture. It seems Miike has struck an even balance between catchy pop (their self-titled debut) and avant-garde (their second album, Happy to You) with iii. Each song gets you singing along and flows quite nicely into the next one to create a full album-listening experience. With “My Trigger†you get a throwback to the J Dilla sound, as the group decided to use a sample from the accomplished producer’s catalog for this record’s opening track. “Heart is Full†serves as a great example of a pop song that doesn’t have to make you cringe; yes, the lyrics to the chorus sound like an excerpt from the love letter you wrote to your crush in junior high, but it’s the funky production laid down on this track that puts it miles ahead of the sludge you get from today’s pop radio. With “Over and Over†the boys go straight-up Sci Fi on us: When “the parking meter can tell you something deep/In your sleep,†you know you’re in an ultra-weird, yet beautiful place. Expect this group to captivate your ear canals at The Governors Ball Music Festival in June.
